


Cold Reminder

by Annibal



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annibal/pseuds/Annibal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will comforts him when he wakes up screaming Mischa's name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Reminder

**Author's Note:**

> Seventh of the 12 days.
> 
> I based his story on the one in the book, but I felt like Hannibal would keep some of it back and give Will half truths.

Will often had stayed over he had gotten used to the calm presence next to him. When they had first started seeing each other he was still working for the FBI, but when Hannibal had finally talked him into quitting things had gotten better. He always slept through the night now, and when he woke up at Hannibal’s house he no longer felt like a visitor. 

His nightmares were sated, and he almost always felt safe now. So when he heard the high pained scream beside him it shook him to the core. Once he realised it was not his own nightmare but Hannibal’s he had to pause to think what to do. Will wanted to shake Hannibal awake and tell him that everything was okay, but he didn’t want to add to the stress. He had never seen Hannibal vulnerable before which only made it more distressing. Will could hear Hannibal was pleading between the screams but none of the words made sense to him. 

The room was lit only from the moon and the reflection off the snow, so while he could see it was not bright enough to disturb their sleep. Thinking as fast as he could, for someone who had just woken, Will turned on all the lights glad to see Hannibal jerk awake. 

He didn’t look like himself, his hair was a mess and sweat flecked over his skin. Will could see his eyes were damp as he blinked at him. Whatever he had been dreaming about had shaken him.

Will had found the only time his blank emotionless mask dropped was while they were intimate. It was part of why he had been attracted to Hannibal, he didn’t get lost in him, but now he was and it left a dull pain inside him. 

Hannibal twitched when Will touched him, his eyes almost wild. 

“Hannibal are you okay?”

Hannibal sat up on his elbows, taking the glass from the night table and sipping it. When he looked back at Will calm had slipped back into place, but it didn’t matter now, it was too late. Will knew what was under it.

“I am fine.”

Hannibal lay back down, nodding to the lamp, silently asking him to turn it off. Will obeyed because he could understand Hannibal’s need to cover up what happened, but it didn’t stop the feelings that were already inside him. The clock showed it was two am, but he didn’t want to go back to sleep, Will could still feel ghosts of his feeling touching his mind.

Will slowly crawled closer, snuggling up to him and hiding his face in Hannibal’s pajamas. The position allowed Hannibal to not have to meet his eyes, but gave them both contact. He could feel the tension in Hannibal’s body. He may have been able to lie with his face, but Will knew the rest of him too well.

“You always listen to me when I need it. I would hope that you would feel the same freedom with me.”

He took one of Hannibal’s hands, holding the clammy skin in his hand, rubbing it with his thumbs. Will wanted to rub every part of him until he felt like he normally did. He felt alone and it bothered him that Hannibal had been able to hide this pain so completely from him.

Neither of them spoke for a while, Hannibal allowing him to massage his hands. Only after he finished and laced their fingers together did Hannibal speak. 

“I mentioned to you that I was orphaned.”

Will stayed quiet, letting Hannibal pick the pace that he wanted to tell the story. 

“It was winter, and I watched my mother get shot down. There was nothing I could do, but stay out of the way and hold my sister from going to her.” 

Will wanted to ask about the sister that he had never heard mentioned before. He wanted to know everything about the sentences; he couldn’t imagine a young Hannibal watching his mother die. Will knew better though, that if he asked or pushed he may never hear anything. 

Will wondered if that was why he wanted to be a doctor, because he wasn’t able to help his family. 

There was no tone to voice; it was even as if he was talking about the weather but Will could feel past that, there was something ugly underneath. 

“We stayed in the hunting cabin house for days with her dead body frozen outside.”

That was enough for Will to wrap his arm around him tighter, just so he could hold him. He wanted Hannibal to feel that he was there for him, and that he wouldn’t leave him. Will had learned how abandonment left an ache that never really filled.

“I’m so sorry.”

Hannibal’s arms slipped around his back holding him tight to his chest. He could hear that Hannibal’s heartbeat had slowed, and that despite the story he was terribly still. Will snuck his fingers under the bottom of Hannibal’s nightshirt, his calloused fingers lending comfort in the only way he knew how, though touch.

“My sister got an infection passed away in the following days; I was the only one who lived. The snow still reminds me, like an anniversary of sorts.”

They didn’t speak at first, staying curled up together like two children hiding from the horrible truth. Hannibal’s muscles slowly relaxed and Will unwound from the loneliness that he had felt before. Only when he heard Hannibal's breath even out did he start to move back into his spot. 

A hand tightening on him stopped all movement.

“I don’t want to sleep yet, don’t move.”

Will was happy to oblige, it helped to alleviate the stress of not being able to do anything to help. He moved back into place so his chest was tight to Hannibal's and he put an arm over him. It would be worth his arm going numb in his position, as long as he could be there for Hannibal as Hannibal had been for him.

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up being wayyy sicker than I thought. I am picking up where I left off in the 12 days.


End file.
